“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
In an operation that did not require the use of violence, José Guadalupe Tapia Quintero, one of the key men of the organization led by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, was arrested in Culiacán.
Authorities have not officially reported how Lupe Tapia’s arrest occurred, but yesterday, Wednesday, the Secretary of the Navy deployed an operation in the Privada Bosque Monarca located in the La Conquista sector, to the northwest of the capital.
The housing unit was surrounded by marines and state agents to search a property.
Security sources indicate that troop movements were also reported in the Tacuichamona syndicate, south of the city. During the night of Wednesday, neighbors of La Conquista reported the overflight of a helicopter at low altitude without navigation lights.
Just last August, Eibar Josué Tapia, Lupe’s son, was arrested in a Navy operation that did not require the use of force.
In February 2013, the Arizona Federal Court issued a formal accusation against Lupe Tapia for cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking, and since then the Department of Justice began to process a request for his arrest for extradition purposes.
He was subsequently booked by the U.S. Treasury Department in January 2014, accused of being an important ringleader of “El Mayo” Zambada.
Tapia Quintero is accused of having created cargo transportation companies from Sinaloa to the United States where large quantities of drugs are transshipped.
Following the arrest of his son Eibar, the federal government announced the seizure of several vehicles allegedly linked to the logistics used by the criminal organization.
This operation against a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel comes just over a month after the Culiacanazo during which Ovidio Guzmán López, “El Ratón,” or “El Ratón,” was captured.
